Astronomy Lesson
by PseudonymA1
Summary: Picks up where OiS leaves off. After so much excitement, the crew of Serenity needs a little downtime.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Technically an AU. Disregards comic and BDM. Rather, a continuation of the series after Obects in Space.

Don't own any of 'em.

"Astronomy Lesson" Part 1

"River?" Simon called tentatively as he limped through the kitchen. The surgeon in him knew that it was much too soon to be putting weight on his leg, but his brotherly worries had pulled him out of bed. He'd been dozing, vainly trying to sleep through the throbbing ache of his wound. A little before midnight, he'd started at the sound of River's door. He considered simply rolling over and letting her go—after all, his sister had a habit of taking night walks. However, the stress of the past two days made Simon want to keep her close by.

After twenty minutes of slow, laborious searching, Simon was having a nagging sense of déjà vu. No bounty hunter tonight, no, but the whole situation was becoming a bit too familiar. For a split second he considered how Early must have felt last night, looking high and low for River. Well, the bounty hunter had at least been able to put weight on his leg; Simon's wound was not making things easy. Using chairs to bear some of his weight, Simon made his way across the floor. He thought ruefully of all the days he'd simply run from infirmary to bridge. This gunshot wound was giving a whole new sense of Serenity's scale.

As Simon made his way, painfully slow, through the corridor, he heard the distinctive laughter of his little sister. Grateful to end his search, he limped up the last few stairs.

River sat in the pilot's chair, giggling as Wash reenacted a story with his dinosaurs. Pretending not to notice her brother, River eyed the pilot seriously.

"Tyrannosaurus Rex does not, in any way, resemble a Big Bear."

"This is true," Wash replied, brandishing his toy, "but there's only so much room on Serenity. I had to make a very difficult choice: dinosaurs or zoo animals."

"Why the terrible lizards?" River giggled.

"Because," Wash considered for a moment, "the terrible lizards are terribly manly."

Simon shook his head.

"I hope you aren't keeping him up, River." The pilot jumped at the voice, but River merely rolled her eyes.

"No, Simon."

Silence.

"I couldn't sleep, Doc," Wash finally said, "She found me up here. We've been keeping each other company."

River stood and helped Simon into the chair.

"Shouldn't bear weight on it," she reprimanded.

"No, meimei, but I was worried about you," Simon explained. River pulled back from him, hair falling in front of her eyes. Their quiet made Wash's skin crawl.

"Hey, ah…River! River, why don't you tell Simon all about the Big Bear."

Half-heartedly, River held up the t-rex.

"Told the seasons. Planting, growing harvesting, dying." She set it down again. "An adolescent female requires, on average, eight to ten hours of sleep."

Simon watched his sister stalk away, suddenly wearied. He turned back to Wash and shook his head.

"I didn't mean it like that. She just—" Wash nodded. "She just takes responsibility for things outside her control."

"Maybe she's just feeling vulnerable after yesterday's…excitement. I mean, I'm still having trouble dealing with it, and nobody's ever opened up my head before. River's got a lot on her plate; she's been quite shortchanged in the brain depart—"

"I'm fully aware of that, Wash," Simon sighed. Wash turned to leave.

"Just wanted you to know that you're not the only one who sees it."

Simon watched helplessly as Wash closed the door behind him.

"Great. Now what am I supposed to do?"


	2. Act One

"So I left him up there to think about what he did!" Wash finished. The breakfast table erupted into laughter.

"Funny as that is," Mal began, sipping on his coffee, "I do wish you'd leave the disciplin' to me. Seein' as I am the captain."

Wash shrugged, stealing a morsel of protein from Zoe's plate. "Just figured it was what you would do. What with everyone being asleep, I was the commanding officer on the bridge."

""Sides, Sir," Zoe said over her tea, "you wouldn't have been too please if Wash had woken you up to do some disciplining." Mal nodded.

"This is true. I retract my reprimand, Wash."

"No need for that Cap'n. I'm just happy to do my duty," Wash replied.

"Is he still up there?" Kaylee asked.

"Did you see 'im lying in the hall?" Jayne grumbled. Kaylee rolled her eyes.

"Well, I'll just take him some tea then," she said, clearing her place. She put her plate in the sink, then filled a mug with hot water and dropped in a tea bag. Taking the mug, she headed out of the common room.

"Make sure you get him some nice _nai you_ to go with that," Jayne called after her. Mal winced.

"Well there goes my appetite."

"Jayne, do you think you could possibly save the innuendo for hours when we are not eating?" Wash asked wryly. The mercenary shrugged and continued to shovel his breakfast into his mouth.

"Simon?" Kaylee called softly from the door. The doctor started and yawned.

"Um…good morning?" he said, a bit unsure of his surroundings. He remembered going after River last night. Whatever had happened after he found her was very fuzzy at the moment.

"I brought you some tea," Kaylee said, stepping onto the bridge. She set the mug on the control panel before Simon. "Did you sleep all right?" Simon reached for the tea gratefully.

"Surprisingly, yes." He sipped from the mug. "Thank you, this is wonderful." Kaylee glowed.

"Best way to start the morning, my daddy always said."

"Your father sounds like a smart man."

"Oh he is," Wash interrupted as he strode onto the bridge. "He's got all the engine know-how of Kaylee, plus wisdom beyond his years. Good to see that you survived the night."

"Yes, I seem to have come out of it unscathed," Simon said tersely. Wash turned Simon's chair so that he could face him.

"I hope you aren't harboring too many hard feelings against me, Doc. Just so you know, Mal and Zoe used to lock in me in all sorts of unseemly place when I got too mouthy." Simon eyed him for a moment.

"Really."

"Yes really. You may be surprised, but those two are under the impression that I talk too much."

"Wonder where they got that idea," Kaylee laughed. Wash smiled.

"Point is, they taught me there are times when I should be mindful of what I say. I thought you could've used that lesson last night."

"All right, Wash, I was insensitive. You've made your point," Simon said uncomfortably. Wash shook his head.

"I'm not the one you should be telling that to. Now, if you'll excuse me, I do need to do a little piloting." Wash smiled to let Simon know that he meant it all in good humor. Simon found himself grinning in spite of his grumpy mien.

"Here, I can give you a hand back to your bunk," Kaylee offered.

"Thank you. That would be…excellent," Simon replied, letting Kaylee help in to his feet. Together the two made their slow, stumbling way back down to the passenger dorms.

Everyone had abandoned the breakfast table, except for Mal and Inara. The companion, who'd barely spoken all morning, continued to sip her tea quietly. Mal cleared his own place, then return to the table. Inara looked up over the rim of her tea cup; her eyes met his. They held the stare until Inara lowered the cup to the table.

"Still want to leave?" Mal asked, trying not to sound too hopeful. After the night they'd had, Mal wanted to keep his crew awfully close.

"Yes," Inara replied simply. "Mal, I've given this plenty of thought, and I really feel it's the right thing to do." Mal nodded.

"Just want you to be sure."

"I sent a wave to the Academy on Sihnon this morning." Inara said. Mal sucked in a breath.

"So you know when you'll be leaving then?" he asked. Inara nodded.

"I have to wait until the end of this term. I'll move in over the student break and finish out the year." Mal looked confused for a moment. "I'm going to be a teacher, Mal." He gave her a hard glance.

"Going to help run the Whore Academy?" he said finally. Inara sighed and rose.

"These things you say just make leaving easier, Captain." With a swish of her robes, she left Mal alone in the kitchen.

"Huh,"

"Hey, Mal?"

Mal turned to see Wash standing in the doorway.

"Yeah Wash?"

"Wave just came through for you. I think. It's a guy going by the name Joey Bloggs, asking for a Captain Raymond." Mal turned to look at his pilot.

"Paradiso?"

"Yes, sir."

"I'll be right there." Wash headed back for the bridge, Mal just a few steps behind him.

Wash was waiting behind the pilot's chair, which was turned to face the cortex screen. There Mal could see the familiar face of Sheriff Bourne through haze of static. He hopped into the chair.

"Hello there Joey! Mighty good to see you again." Bourne's face calmed visibly.

"Good seeing you, too, Cap'n Raymond."

"What gives us the pleasure of hearing from you again?" Mal asked. Straight to business today. Bourne looked skyward and scratched the back of his head.

"We've been having us some shipping problems of late. A good many train jobs since you've been here last. I won't lie to you friend, we're starting to get desperate."

"Is there anything we can do to help?" Mal asked.

"Well, you see, on this last shipment we paid a heavy insurance. The company will reimburse us for the stolen goods. It's just that we don't trust that they'll ever get here if we try and ship them by train again."

"And you want us to pick up the goods and make a drop off for you." Mal finished.

"We'll pay standard shipping costs."

"Well, I'd hate for yous to take a loss from this,"

"Don't be silly, Captain. It's a tight economy; it'd be wrong for us not to pay you."

"If you're sure, Bloggs."

"And I am."

"All right then, you have yourself a deal." Bourne smiled openly.

"I'll transfer pick up coordinates to you know. Once you've received the cargo, we can discuss drop off. Bloggs out."

Mal looked up from the screen.

"Wash?"

"Getting the coordinates right now. Seems we'll be picking up from a factory outlet. These are medical goods, I take it?"

"Yeah," Mal replied.

"So we have honest work?"

Mal started.

"Why yes, Wash, it seems that we do."


End file.
